(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-11-14 19:22

WASHINGTON -- Passengers were evacuated from a plane after a smoking suitcase was found Tuesday in the cargo area at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Ariz, Arizona, but did not contain explosives, said a TV report.

Citing airport spokeswoman Julie Rodriguez, the CNN report said that a gate area for boarding was also evacuated after a suitcase that was ready to board on a US Airways plane began to smoke in the morning.

A baggage handler noticed the suitcase was hot and set it aside without loading it on the plane, she said.

A hazard materials team from the Phoenix Fire Department responded as a precaution and passengers who were boarding the San Antonio-bound Flight 200 were taken off the plane, she added.

"When the bomb squad arrived, everything was melted in the bag," said Victor Rangel, a spokesman for the Phoenix Fire Department.

Rangel said, however, there were contents including hairspray and other toiletries in the suitcase but no explosives. The owner of the suitcase, who was on the flight at the time of the incident, was being questioned.

According to US Airways spokeswoman Valerie Wunder, the flight was allowed to leave about an hour after the original departure time but no other flights were affected.